Oct 17 2010
Family History Project: Gma Vita Interview
Daddy: “You know, you don’t have to use all your trains at once.”
Lucy: “Yes, all the trains have to be used at once in the world we live in.”
— a conversation w/ Lucy while playing w/ her train set
Family History Part 1 from Mike C on Vimeo.
“Perfection is the Enemy” is something I often remind myself. I guess it’s a variation on… googling …Voltaire’s “The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good.”
For me, waiting to get something “perfect” or “just right” often equals not doing anything. So I often need to tell myself to chuck that “striving for perfection” stuff out the window and to just try to learn, create, and get better at things on a continual basis (in between goofing off and being lazy, that is.)
So, I finally heeded this advice regarding a long delayed family history project I posted about last week.
Part of this project involves filming short, quick video interviews. My mom, good sport that she is, agreed to sit down with me for the very first interview (with two cameras rolling of course!) This initial video concentrates on her memories of growing up in the Philippines before WWII. I hope to do many more videos.
Some notes from this first shoot:
- I brought two lights and both bulbs burnt out before I could even use them
- It was fairly quiet outdoors until we started shooting—that’s when the neighbors started with the firecrackers
- I’m glad I used my old directional microphone, or the firecrackers would have ruined the shoot
- With no lighting I was worried about having a dim picture but had the opposite, too bright on my main camera (I toned it down a little in post)
- I need to learn more everything that has to do with video (shooting, editing, etc)
- I need to get a better selection of family photos and interview questions
- http://incompetech.com/: Royalty-free soundtrack music. Cool
- This video was shot in 1080p/24fps but was outputted to the web at 720p/29.97fps (something else I need to learn about)
- This was a lot of fun and I learned a lot—what more could I ask for?
Oct 17, 2010 @ 13:29:01
Hi Mike,
This was a great video of Mom’s memories! I especially like the way you cut in the photos of Mom and her parents, and also the maps of the Phillipines. I learned to do this on imovie and had a hard time cutting in and fading so I am very impressed with your video editing skills. Keep up the great work! Oh and Mom is a very good story teller ; )
Love cin
Oct 17, 2010 @ 14:35:47
Thanks, Cindy. I’m glad you liked it!
Oct 17, 2010 @ 15:03:56
I’m very happy that you thought of doing the family videos. Came out great! the picture so clear and I can hear every word I said. Thought we had all that noise in the background. Love MOM
Oct 17, 2010 @ 15:08:35
Thanks, mom. I was happy w/ the sound too, considering all the noise we had that day.
Oct 17, 2010 @ 19:18:51
Mike,
This is great–the kids enjoyed it too. Mom–I love hearing your stories. Love you, Patty
Oct 17, 2010 @ 20:12:57
It was fun to do. And mom was very patient as I set everything up–she was a real trooper!
Oct 17, 2010 @ 20:23:54
I just watched Mike’s Mom’s interview and I had to comment!!
She is just a beautiful lady!! A real sweet personality. I enjoyed that short video so much! I do hope that Mike interviews her many, many moretimes….it is fascinating.
Now, I think I know, at least partly, why Mike is such a neat
guy. Give him a big hug for me.
I am very interested to hear what she says about the Japanese being there during the War. It will be living history.
I am very proud of Mike for actually starting this project…..it could be daunting, but doing the short interviews will end up with family info that is priceless. The whole familywill be greatly blessed.
I lived during WW 11, also, I am 4 years younger than she is. I have a lot of memories, from a child’s perspective of living in San Diego during that time. I am very curious about what she says.
Oct 17, 2010 @ 20:29:40
Thanks a lot for the kind words, AJ!
I have you in the back of my mind a lot when I’m up late at night cobbling many of these posts together. Also, working on your family’s photo collage is the thing that inspired me to do this. So for that, thanks again!
Oct 18, 2010 @ 17:50:09
I Love This! Mike, I don’t know you but come on your site from time to time to see Wubert. (I have a siamese cat). I also happen to be Filipina-American, and one of the things I never did was an oral history with my parents, who were both Filipino immigrants. My mom also comes from Cavite in the Philippines (she was born in 1917 and died in 1998). Kudos to you to get your mom to talk and give her great stories with such beauty and candor. She’s very charming too. Before my parents passed away, I never took that opportunity to record or commemorate their stories and I regret it so much. I don’t have the personal memories on file, but it fills my heart to see Filipino-American stories like your mom’s.
Oct 18, 2010 @ 19:57:01
Thanks, Claire (from both me and Wubert!) Feedback like yours and the above are very much appreciated. Also, your comment reminds me to do more Wubert-centric posts. Like all siamese, he’s loud and proud and deserves more web time!
Oct 26, 2010 @ 10:36:51
Hi Mike,
You did an amazing job on the Video Interview with your Mom. The Map of the Philippines and the old photos of my Mom & Dad, G’ma & G’pa were wonderful. “It brought Tears to my eyes. Love, Aunty Nina
Vita, you look fantastic!! You did a terrific interview telling the story of your memories of Mom & Dad and growing up in the Philippines it was so interesting, I had tear in my eyes.
I don’t remember anything about the Philippines, because I was only 3 years old when we moved to the USA after WWII. I’m so happy that we went back to visit all our cousins in PI and I got to see Cavite, the place we were born. Love, Your Baby Sister, Nina
Oct 26, 2010 @ 13:00:46
Thanks, Auntie Nina! This is a fun project. I hope to interview my mom for part 2 this weekend.
Family History Project, Part 2
Oct 18, 2011 @ 00:07:51
[...] family history video!” I was feeling slightly less than energetic, but since it’d been a while since my last video, I hurriedly packed some cameras in a bag and we set [...]
Family History Project, Part Two
Oct 19, 2011 @ 08:49:58
[...] family history video!” I was feeling slightly less than energetic, but since it’d been a while since my last video, I hurriedly packed some cameras in a bag and we set [...]
Family History Project, Part 3
Oct 25, 2011 @ 10:24:43
[...] Family History Project: Gma Vita Interview [...]